Under investigation
by The Bagpiper
Summary: After the war Hermione builds herself a good career within the ministry. A research job brings her to Voltera where she meets with the three kings of the Vampire world. The three kings are not what she had expected, especially not the youngest one. While trying to do her research Hermione learns about bonds and vampires in a more personal way than she ever expected.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: welcome to a new story I have been working on for a while. I cannot promise regular updates or when I'm going to finish it but I'll try to not keep it too long.**

 **AN2: Please review to let me know what you think!**

 **AN3: I do not own anything Twilight or Harry Potter. Just playing with the characters.**

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 _Dear Lords of the Volturi,_

 _I am Hermione Granger, Head of the Department for Magical Beings of the British Ministry for Magic and the Chief Investigator of Magical Beings for the International Confederation of Wizards._

 _In this last function I am charged with the investigation of all magical beings and to ensure that all laws on Magical Creatures in Europe are brought into the twenty first century._

 _My goal is to ensure that all beings, human, non-human or creatures are treated fairly and where possible equally. The last three years I have been working on legislations to better the lives of house-elves and werewolves. Now my focus has turned to vampires, in my opinion one of the most misunderstood and mistreated species in our world._

 _To ensure that I do justice and the right things for the vampire community I would like to discus with you the needs and requirements of vampires, your visions for the future and everything that goes around in the vampire community. I would also like to spent some time of my interview with you to gather information of the vampire being in general as our world is severely lacking proper knowledge._

 _I hope you grant my request for an intensive interview with the three rulers of the vampire world and possible further meetings to discus my findings and my ideas for these legislations._

 _Please send a reply by this owl, she has been told to wait for it._

 _Kind Regards,_

 _Hermione Granger._

 _Order of Merlin, First class._

Aro read the letter out loud to his brothers. It had been a long time since the magical world shown any interest in them. Normally the magicals would only send them notifications of changes in the law that restricted their movements.

Of course, most of these laws only angered the kings. They had, however, learned the hard way that wizards and witches could kill them quicker than a newborn vampire could drain a human. The magical world, while interesting, was not to be messed with and very dangerous for any vampire.

"This is new." Marcus commented.

"Yes, those fuckers normally don't sound so nice." Caius growled.

"Have you heard of this Miss Granger before, Aro?" Marcus asked.

Aro nodded slowly and reread the letter again before he found the memory of her name being mentioned.

"Yes, I have seen her in the memory of an old English vampire. The one that came here two years ago to ask for advise on where to settle with his mate." His brothers nodded as they remembered the vampire in question as well. "Apparently she is the real deal. She managed to get werewolves in England equal status as non-magical humans as long as they are willing to comply with a handful of rules. Nothing too demanding, like they have to register for a potion that keeps them sane during transformation and they have to finish at least a basic education. If they do this they are allowed to live freely in the magical world."

"That doesn't sound too bad." Marcus mused.

"No it doesn't." Caius begrudgingly agreed.

"It could benefit all of us and especially our business dealings if we could get some laws changed. We can move freely in the non-magical world but there is so much money to make and wisdom to gain in the magical world." Aro mused. "She is a recipient of the Order of Merlin, First class, so she holds high enough ranking to be able to make these changes. Perhaps we should invite her here and show her our world. If we are kind to her, she might be able to open doors for us."

His brother nodded though he knew from one touch against Caius's hand that his younger brother was not happy with the idea of having a witch in his house, especially one with a beating heart and blood running through her veins. However Aro also knew Caius would deal with it and be courteous. A lot depended on the woman.

Aro quickly grabbed some letter paper and a pen and wrote an answer.

 _Dear Miss Granger._

 _We of the Volturi, Kings of the Vampire world, were surprised to receive your letter. Our dealings with the magical world have been minimum and very unfriendly over the last few hundredth years. As such it came to a surprise to receive a friendly letter with some kind news._

 _Of course we are interested in bettering our status and relations within the magical world. Even if it is only for the selfish reason of being able to conduct business in the magical world. However, the possibility of gaining knowledge and aid from your world is of course most interesting._

 _My brethren would be positively aided if they were able to live, study and work in the magical world as they are able to do in the non-magical world. The possibilities will be endless._

 _Therefore we cordially grant you your request and give you access to Voltera. We invite you to stay in Voltera for a while to take your time and really study the comings and goings in the vampire world. Your safety will be guaranteed of course._

 _If it would suit you we would like you to come and stay with us on the first of March. The duration of your stay is completely up to you._

 _Please inform us if the date is suitable._

 _Kind regards,_

 _Aro Volturi._

Aro sealed the letter and handed it to the beautiful eagle owl that was patiently waiting for it to take it to its master. The three kings watched as the owl took off.

A few days later the same owl returned with a short reply that Hermione Granger would be honoured to spend some time with them and to get a chance to really study vampires in more detail. Aro chuckled at the way the note was written, the woman sounded so enthusiastic about the idea of gaining knowledge. He was sure he would get along splendidly with the witch.

He left the note for his brother to read and went to see Gianna. He wanted to make sure that he had everything a human would need ready for the arrival of the witch. He wanted to make sure she felt at home and make a good impression as a decent and sophisticated person not some mindless dark creature.


	2. First Interview

Three weeks later Hermione Granger, Ministry department Head, Head researcher for the international confederation of Wizards, war hero and receiver of the order of Merlin first class arrived in Voltera. To say she was nervous was an understatement. Even though she and Sanguini had gone through many hours of discussion and preparation, visiting the vampire kings was scary. Even for a war-hardened hero.

On Aro's advise she had arrived by muggle plane in Florence, where she was picked up from the airport by a vampire named Felix. The idea of spending any time in such a closed environment as a car had Hermione on edge but the vampire that met her at the gate made her feel at ease instantly. Felix was a friendly vampire with a good sense of humour.

Hermione enjoyed his outgoing character and took the chance to ask a few questions about the every day life of a Volturi guard.

"So you are all in the guard voluntarily?" Hermione asked once he mentioned some other vampires.

"Not all of us. Most of us are, it's an honour to be special enough to make it into the Volturi's high ranks. However in the lower ranks there are those who serve as punishment."

"Punishment?" Hermione asked confused. The ruling and accompanying system was something Sanguini hadn't been too familiar with. He had told her that the rules were similar to the magical world and that he had no desire to figure out what would happen if he broke the rules.

"Yes, when vampires break the law the Volturi is there to punish them. Like an army force or the police. Just like a human criminal gets a fine or jail time or even the death penalty. With vampires being a naturally more aggressive and uncontrolled species the punishment needed is often harsh but it's the only way to ensure others learn to stay within the law. If the crime isn't warranting immediate dead, often our kings decide that a hundredth years of servitude if a fitting punishment."

"A hundredth years sound like a long time to us mortals." Hermione breathed.

"For most vampires it is a long time as well, despite what you may have been told the average life span of a vampire is only hundredth years, many are killed in their first two years."

"Really, I never knew that. I only met with older vampires."

"And a good thing too. Would you have met a newborn vampire you would have immediately decided we were all a bunch of mindless killing machines." Felix said with a chuckle. "That's Voltera."

Hermione followed his eyes and saw a beautiful small town perched on a hill. Voltera seemed to be a classic old Italian town, with narrow alleys, an old church and a square with fountain. The sun was setting over it casting a golden hallow around it.

"It's stunning." Hermione breathed.

"Yes, even after almost a thousand years it's still beautiful." Felix agreed.

Felix brought Hermione into the castle and guided her through the hallways. He took time to point out where the guards stay and where guests would be staying. He introduced her to the only human employee in the castle before he took her to Aro's office.

"Normally guests are brought to the throne room but Aro thought it would be more comfortable for you to meet the three of them in a more personal setting."

"That is very considerate of him." Hermione nodded.

Hermione followed Felix into more darkened hallways. It reminded her a little of the oldest part of Hogwarts. The hallway was narrow but still decorated with paintings and art. The lighting came from old looking torches but closer inspections showed Hermione that they were all electrical.

They came to a halt in front of an old wooden door. The door was nothing really special except for the old runes painted on it in gold. The runes were so old that Hermione didn't recognized them but she could feel the magic coming from them. Apparently there were some wards on it but they didn't feel malicious in any way. Nervously she knocked on the door. As soon as she heard somebody calling for her to come in she opened it and stepped in.

Hermione couldn't help a gasp escaping her when she stepped into the office. It was more like an old study of sorts. Ancient books and scrolls lined the walls. A huge fireplace sat to the side of the room and was surrounded by a cosy seating area. Across the fireplace stood a large oak desk that looked very old. A large window with a build in window seat let in the last of the sunlight. It would make the perfect place to loose yourself to a good book.

Seated in large chairs next to the fireplace were the three kings. Aro, she recognized from Sanguini's description looked incredible pale and his skin very old, yet he was youthful and beautiful at the same time. His eyes were crimson red and lightened up by the fire. Combined with a black suit and neatly combed dark hair he looked every bit the king.

Next to Aro sat Marcus. Sanguini had told her that Marcus was recognizable by his sad look. Hermione immediately felt huge amounts of compassion for him. It was like a cloud of sadness and despair hung around him. Marcus looked older then Aro in human year, she estimated that Aro was changed in his late twenties and Marcus probably around the age of thirty-five. She wondered who was older in vampire years. Her bet was on Marcus.

The third King rose up from his chair and turned towards her. Caius, she remembered he was named. As she took in his appearance she couldn't help but sigh at his beauty. In her eyes Caius was the typical vampire. Extremely beautiful, powerful, dark, sensual and strong. He looked to be the youngest of the three. His wild red eyes alerted her to the fact that he was also supposed to be the most violent of the three. As she studied him she felt him luring her in even though she had her shield up to the max. There was this pull or attraction that was immediate and strong. She did her best to fight it while stepping into the room further.

"Miss Granger, welcome to Voltera." Aro said happily as he got up.

"Thank you, lord Aro, it is lovely to be here. So beautiful." Hermione said and walk up to him confidently with her hand held out. It surprised her that Aro did not accept it, apparently her face showed her surprise.

"I do not wish to be rude, miss Granger but apparently you don't know everything about the volturi yet. In my case to accept your hand would be extremely rude towards you, miss Granger." Aro said with an apologetic smile. "You see, I am, like quite a few vampires, gifted beyond the norm. I can see all your memories through simple contact with your skin. It would be very rude of me to shake your hand in this case."

"Really?" Hermione asked interested. "My informant talked about gifted vampires but he wasn't sure if the Volturi Kings had any special gifts."

"Two of us have. Please sit with us and we will talk further." Aro said.

Hermione nodded and sat down.

"Please call me, Hermione." She said as she opened her bag and pulled out a notebook and a muggle pen. "Would it be okay if I recorded this conversation for future study. You see, once I'm done with my work for the International confederation I intend to rewrite some text books they use at magical schools." Hermione explained.

"Of course and please you can all use by our first name. I am of course Aro, this is my brother Marcus and next to you is Caius." Aro said and sat down across from her. Hermione smiled kindly at the three kings and held out her hand to the other two. They graciously accepted it and welcomed her to Voltera.

"How has your travels to Italy been?" Caius asked kindly. She was surprised by the softness of his tone.

"It was alright. I do not like flying in any form but going by plane is much more comfortable then by broom." Hermione said. "Though the airport was really busy."

"It always is. Can you tell us a little more about yourself and your job before we start?" Aro asked.

"Of course, my general job is to manage the department for magical beings at the ministry of magic in the UK. In this department we are charged with controlling and managing everything that has to do with sentient magical beings and the regulation of animals." Hermione explained. "In general this means that whenever there is a problem with anything outside of witches and wizards they come to my department."

"Next to that I'm appointed, head investigator by the international Confederation of Wizards. This confederation is the main advising and controling body of all ministries in the magical world. It was created to ensure that the magical world is being fair to all. Of course you know that prejudges and wars have created a way of ruling that is neither fair nor correct. They have asked me to review all laws on magical beings made by the countries and come up with new correct laws and regulations that can apply to all countries."

"So, what you will learn here will be transformed into laws and legislations that apply to all European countries?" Aro asked.

"And a few countries outside of Europe." Hermione said with a nod.

"That is a very high ranking job for somebody so young." Marcus pointed out.

"It is but I am one of the very few with the experience and knowledge to do so. My name, fame and title, is what weighs heavily in the magical world."

"May we ask how you came to have this fame?" Caius asked.

"Myself, together with two friends defeated one of the most powerful dark lords in the last century. Thanks to us the light side in the UK won the war and saved the magical world from utter destruction. Or so they say." Hermione said with a shrug. "In the eyes of the magical world I'm a war-hero and celebrity. I rather prefer to mention that I graduated from Hogwarts with the highest scores on the NEWTS ever."

The kings looked impressed and nodded. When they didn't ask anymore questions Hermione looked down at her notebook. She suddenly remembered the pen she stilled needed to charm and pulled out her wand and tapped the pen twice. Suddenly the pen rose up and settled itself on the blank paper.

"There, it will record everything we say here. If you want something that has been said to be left out of the record, let me know and I'll remove it."

Aro nodded eagerly as he was very excited to see this kind of magic done. He was only familiar with the curses witches and wizards used against the vampires. This looked much more like the every day magic of a witch.

"Perhaps, it would be best if you start with asking questions, young Hermione." Marcus said. "That way we can figure out where your knowledge about the truth of vampires is insufficient."

Hermione smiled at him and nodded. She thought for a second.

"Felix was kind enough to tell me a little about every day life in Voltera and the running of the Volturi guard but I have almost no information on the general vampire world. How vampires live, the rules you have set up, their life, mental development, feeding habit, anything actually. The books we have are out-dated and most of the time only written from a prejudged mind. I have an informant who is a vampire but he is one of the few who lived most of his life in the magical world and does not know much about his brethren. Could you please explain to me about how a vampire lives?"

The three kings looked at each other and to her surprise it was Marcus who answered.

"Could you tell us first what you do know? It would be easier to supply the missing information."

"The only vampire I had a chance to talk to is Sanguini. He is an Italian vampire who moved to Magical Britain a few years after he was changed and never left. He has been living in the magical world for all most his entire vampire life. His creator explained the rules to him and left him on his own. Sanguini explained that there are three rules, the only one he remembered hearing was about not exposing the vampire world to the muggles. He has met a handful of vampires through his existence and they seemed to live a nomadic and lonely lifestyle. All of them feed on human blood but there are rumours about vampires feeding on animal blood."

"Than this Sanguini doesn't know a lot. He can't be that old then." Caius said.

"No, just over eighty years as a vampire." Hermione admitted. "Our textbooks are telling us that a vampire can be warded off by garlic and that sunshine can hurt you. Though, I am very unsure how much of this is true as so far every other fact seems to be untrue."

"Alright." Marcus nodded. "Than you magicals indeed know very little about us vampires. I take it you know that a vampire is born out of a bite from another vampire." Hermione nodded.

"Our venom starts the change immediately. However the majority of attempt of change end in death as the taste of human blood sends us into a feeding frenzy. It makes stopping drinking before your victim dies very difficult. Only older vampires are able to do it and then most still fail."

Hermione nodded and waited for the vampires to continue.

"The change last in general three days. It depends on the amount of venom entering the body, the amount of blood left in the body and the body mass of the victim. The first year or so after a vampire is changed we call it their newborn phase." Aro explained. "During this year the thirst is uncontrollable. The burn in our throat rules our mind and takes away any rational thought, it makes every action of the vampire instinctual. Due to the remaining blood in our tissues we are at our strongest that first year. Newborns in general are nowhere near rational or able to sustain from human blood. I have only ever met one vampire who in his entire existence never tasted human blood."

"So the rumours about feeding of animals are true?" Hermione asked.

"Yes, Carlisle has been able to survive on animal blood. We do however; have our doubts if that can go on indefinite. For now everything seems to be alright with him." Aro said. "Slowly after the first year a vampire will loose his strength and regain their rational thinking. It will take many years for a vampire to overcome the feeding instinct when faced with a beating heart or flowing blood but if they are strong of will the average vampire can venture out into the human world after about two years. Though the smell of free flowing blood will always be a temptation."

"A vampire can live in a few ways. Most of us are nomads. They travel around, drinking only when needed and most have morality enough to stick to criminals and rapist. The darkest kind of humans." Caius explained. "Most of the time nomads travel in small groups or alone. It is not common to have more than three vampires living together. However some of them do. All around the world you will find small covens of five to seven vampires. They are led by their coven leader. You find them in the large cities. The leaders control the city grounds and makes sure that there is no unlimited hunting and changing of humans."

"Do you know if London has a vampire leader as well?"

"Yes, there is one. His name is Gawain. I know he rules with a iron first but he has never dared to make contact with the magical world." Aro said. "His coven exists out of six vampires, two of which have special gifts."

"What can you tell me about these gifts?" Hermione asked. She found it so very interesting to learn about a species she knew so little about. She had decided years ago that her old school books weren't sufficient enough for studying vampires and now was her chance to learn everything.

"We do not know much about them. I have studied it in great lengths but they are hard to understand. Some vampires wake up after their transformation with great gifts and some don't get any at all." Aro explained. "Our theory is that all humans have a specific trait that is most pronounced. When you are turned into a vampire many things get enhanced, including this trait. If this trait is enhanced to a certain extend the vampire will be gifted. For example, I was as a human very aware of what others thought in any situation. When I woke up after my transformation I found that I could read every thought you ever had with just a touch."

"Can you give another example?" Hermione asked. She wanted to understand how this worked and how Aro had formed this theory.

"Our Chelsea, I found her as a human." Caius said. "She was a very special human. She could make people loyal to her with just a few words. It was amazing to see her work in Ancient Rome. People would be loyal to a fault to her. And not only her, also to the people she wanted included."

"Caius contacted me about this human and wondered if her gift would be useful for us or not." Aro continued. "I decided she would be very useful but I do not like changing humans without a very good reason. Having a gift or a potential gift isn't always good enough. It depends on the gift. With Chelsea I wasn't sure enough if she would use her gift against us in revenge for condemning her to this non-life. While immortality sounds nice to many being a vampire is in essence a very cursed existence."

"In the end it wasn't our decision." Caius said. "Rome was a dangerous place those days and Chelsea was attacked by some wayward slave. I found her dying in a forest the next day. I told her I could make sure she would live and be more powerful then she ever had been or end her suffering quickly. She chose to live."

"During her transformation her powers to bind people to her grew. These days she works for us to bind those who are in our guards for punishment to us and ensure their loyalty. She can also destroy bonds, it makes it easier for us to rule when we don't get a constant inflow of revenge crazy vampires."

Hermione was about to ask about the way they ruled when there was a knock on their door. A young looking vampire with black hair opened the door.

"Masters, Heidi is here."

"Alright dear, we will come." Aro said and got up. "I am sorry Hermione but our dinner has arrived. While I'm sure you are interested in our feeding aspect I cannot ensure your safety in the feeding room. Caius will see you to your guest room before joining us. We can continue this tomorrow."

"Of course." Hermione said and packed away her stuff. "You have already given me a lot to think about."

The two kings smiled and Caius waited for her at the door. As Hermione reached him she noticed how tall Caius was. Her head reached no higher than his chest. She looked up she see him looked down at her with kind eyes.

"Come, little witch, I'll show you your room and arrange for Gianna to get you something to eat as well." Caius said and Hermione couldn't help but smile. Caius was something special she realized.

According to Sanguini, Caius was the most feared vampire in the world. That is, together with a vampire called Jane. However, as he was standing there with a smile on his face, Hermione couldn't make herself to fear this vampire. While in the presence of Felix, Aro or Marcus she had constantly felt her magic warn her for the dangers but now she was alone with Caius her magic relaxed and felt totally at ease.


	3. Caius

**AN: Short chapter, I know and I'm sorry.**

 **AN2: Thank you for your reviews, keep them coming!**

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After all his years on this earth there was not much that could surprise Caius anymore. He had seen it all, done it all and destroyed it all. So for a mere human to surprise him was a very rare feat.

Yet, as he watched this young witch entering the study, conducting her investigation and accepting the idea of being alone with him without blinking was very surprising to him. She wasn't stupid, in fact she appeared to be very intelligent, so she knew of his reputation and yet it didn't seem to matter to her.

Hermione Granger, he decided the moment she had walked into the study, was a very beautiful human. She was small for a human but well proportioned. She had slim legs, a tiny waist and beautiful curves. Her wild curly hair was a beautiful shade of brown and matched her caramel eyes perfectly. She wore high heels, a skirt that stopped just above her knees and a blouse that showed just enough of her body to entice him.

It was already very surprising that Caius found a human beautiful. Not that he wanted to admit it to himself. Humans were cattle, not special enough to find attractive. Compared to the beauty of vampires, humans were severely lacking and yet, he found Hermione Granger was a very attractive woman.

Very quickly Caius learned that her looks weren't even her most attractive characteristics. He found himself even more attracted to this woman by that inner light that seemed to shine out of her. It was that kindness that showed up in her eyes as she shook his hand. It was the strength she showed when facing the three most powerful vampires in the world and it was the passionate way she worked her way through the information she received.

When Caius took a moment to think about it, he realized that what surprised him most was the way he felt about her. There was this immediate connection he felt. It was something familiar, something natural. The moment they shook hands he had started to feel protective of her. While it wasn't surprising for a vampire to feel protective of a human, it normally only happened when the human's blood was especially enticing to the vampire, but with Hermione there was no blood lust.

Yes, he could hear her heart beating the blood around and yes, he could smell the delicious scent of her powerful blood, he just didn't want to drink it. There was just no possible way that he could even think of drinking her blood. Anyone who would try would be brutally murdered after many hours of torture.

It should have been a warning sign to him. Also should Marcus's smirk have been but he failed to notice as he was distracted by there new feelings.

Caius was also surprised by how much he enjoyed the company of the human. Even in the short hour that they spend talking about the basics of vampires he decided that this human was good company and that was saying something. In general he found humans stupid, slow and very unpleasant to spend time with. Hermione was smart and of quick mind. She didn't need to think for ages about answers or questions. Her intelligence was way above what he had experienced in a humans so far.

Once it was time to break up the meeting Caius found himself perfectly fine with missing the start of the feeding while Aro appointed him to take Hermione to her rooms. In fact he could skip the whole feeding just to be with her but he considered it a bad idea to go thirsty with a human around.

"Aro decided that it is best for your safety if you were to stay in our wing of the castle." Caius said as he led the young witch through the halls. "Normally you would have stayed in the guest wing but we have some unfamiliar vampires staying there and we do not trust them to leave you alone."

"That is very considerate of you." Hermione said with a smile. "Will my presence here be an issue?"

"No, it won't. Not with the guard but we just want to be sure." Caius told her with a tight smile. The idea of anyone attacking her was ridiculous and would call for immediate death. Though he considered that Hermione would finish the vampire off sooner.

"You know that as a witch I could kill a vampire before he would even get close enough to harm me." Hermione stated with a smile.

"I'm familiar with the powers of a witch, though I think you might want to sleep while staying here. It would be a different game if a vampire surprised you in your sleep."

"I'm not sure." Hermione said slowly. "My magic is constantly warning me about the possible danger you vampires are. I think that would one attack me in surprise my magic would act instinctively to protect me."

Caius looked at her and saw no humour or joking in her eyes. She was being serious about this.

"Perhaps we could try it out with a more controlled vampire. I think it would be something to add to your regulations and research."

"Yes, if that is true then it would be a huge bonus for the vampires. But I'm much more in-tune with my magic than the general witch or wizard. So it would require a lot of study." Hermione nodded.

Caius nodded and found himself perfectly fine with having her around for a long period to study this. Slowly he led her through the halls to his part of the castle. She would stay in one of his rooms, he decided. As they walked he watched as Hermione looked around eagerly.

"Do you like art?" He asked when he saw her eyes settle on the paintings.

"Very much so. Sadly in the magical world, art revolves around personal paintings and big egos. So I have to venture out into the muggle world and most of the time alone, as my friends do not understand art. In London, I live close to many muggle museums, whenever I get the chance I visit different expositions."

"Once you are settled in and had some sleep I will show you around the castle. Aro and I are fanatic art collectors and we have a large amount of it around the castle. Of most of the paintings I know how they were made and knew the artist."

Hermione smiled up at him and nodded. The silence that fell after that was nice and didn't need to be broken. Caius was pleased to see that Hermione seemed to feel comfortable to be with him. Her heart rate was normal and her breathing didn't seemed to be panicked. It was refreshing to experience, as many instinctually feared him.

"These are your rooms." Caius said as he came to stop in front of a door. "This is my part of the castle and by placing you here everybody will know that you are under my protection. However I do ask you to stay with in the rooms for tonight and wait for me to get you tomorrow morning. The castle is big and you would get easily lost. I will show you around tomorrow before we reconvene with Aro and Marcus."

"That is alright. I'm tired anyway." Hermione said.

"I will send Gianna over with something to eat. She will be here in fifteen minutes."

"Thank you." Hermione nodded. With a nod Caius left.


	4. Meeting Jane

_**AN: thank you all for the reviews! Keep them coming**_

 _ **AN2: thanks for pointing out typo's, I'm not native English so any issues you find please let me know so I can learn from them.**_

 **AN3: there was a comment on Hermione's willingness to walking into Voltera alone. Please keep in mind that she is a witch who knows how to cast an Incendio with the flick of her wrist. Further more things are explained later on.**

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Hermione took a deep breath and entered the room. Her first meeting with the vampire kings had gone perfectly well. She had already a massive amount of new information and she knew she had only scratched the surface of it all. It was like with the werewolves all over again. She had spent months with Remus traveling around with a pack to study them, only to realise that she had barely scratched the surface.

As she stepped into the room and looked around she let out a surprised gasp. It didn't look like a room, it was more like a small apartment. She entered into a small seating area with a fireplace, a table and a few chairs and a window looking out over a beautiful garden. To the left she found a big bedroom with king-size bed and a bathroom that was bigger then her bathroom back home. To the right side of the entrance she found a massive study with shelves of old books and a huge wooden desk. All rooms had windows looking out over that stunning garden but the study also had a small balcony that was a real morning suntrap.

She smiled and placed her bag on the bed. She smiled as she saw a telephone on the bedside table. There was a note next to it that for outside calls she had to dial a zero first. Taking it as a sign that she was allowed to use the phone she picked up the horn and dialled Harry's number. Just a few months ago he had finally installed a phone in Grimmauld place. He and Sirius had fun testing it out by ordering pizza, Chinese and sushi for five nights in a row.

"Potter." It was answered.

"Hey, Harry, this is Hermione."

"Oh, hey, Moine. I'm so happy to hear you. I was worried." Harry said.

"You are always worried." Hermione said with a chuckle. "I just called in to let you know that I'm still alive and that my first meeting with the kings went perfectly well. They gave me so much information already. After this I can spend the rest of my life writing books."

Harry laughed at that.

"I remember you saying the same after your year with the werewolves."

"And that. I need to find a way to live a very long time to ensure all the books are correctly written." Hermione laughed. "Anyway, the kings have been very courteous to me and given me this stunning room to stay in. The castle is so old and beautiful. Not like Hogwarts but the Mediterranean version of Hogwarts. And the art here, Harry, I wish you could see it. They have so many stunning paintings just hanging around."

"It sounds like you feel right at home then." Harry said with a chuckle.

"Yes, I do." Hermione said, feeling a little surprised at that statement. It wasn't like her to let her guard down like that while in the company of such potentially dangerous beings. "I have always loved this part if the world. Perhaps I should listen to Sirius and buy myself a house here."

"Yeah, you could do that. You have been sitting on your money for too long without doing something fun." Harry said.

"Perhaps I'll look around while I'm here." Hermione mused. "Anyway, I will call you in two days with an update. Say hello to Sirius and Remus for me."

"I will. Bye Moine."

"Bye!"

By the time Hermione hung up the phone there was a knock on the door. She went to open it and found the human woman, Gianna, there with a tray of food on it.

"Master Caius asked me to bring you dinner and snacks." Gianna said.

"Yes, thank you. It smells delicious." Hermione said and took the tray.

"I made some traditional Italian food."

"I love Italian. Though I'm fan of most types of food." Hermione said and placed the tray on the table.

"That's good. I will pick up the tray tomorrow morning when I bring you breakfast." Gianna said and left.

Hermione sat down and started on a really good soup. While she ate she considered staying in Voltera. It would be weird to be served food three times a day like this. Perhaps she could ask Gianna about making her own breakfast and lunch and only have dinner served. Or perhaps go out for dinner and taste more local food.

Hermione pulled out her notebook and dictated her pen to make a few remarks. One of those remarks was the idea of doing an interview with Gianna. The muggle had lived with the vampires for a while and should know a lot about them from a non-magical point of view.

She made notes of the things that stood out to her and her own feelings about being in the presence of the world's most deathliest vampires. As she wrote she noticed that the rational fear she should have felt in the presence of vampires wasn't there. It was only her magic warning her about the potential danger. She made a note to further investigate this.

The food was excellent and the snacks that Gianna had brought would suffice for the next day. After finishing up her food and notes she took a shower and settled for the night. After placing a vampire ward around her bed and an alarm charm to ensure she woke up in time Hermione fell into a deep sleep.

The next morning Hermione took some time to get dressed and braid her hair nicely. It hadn't left her mind that she was in the presence of kings. Vampires or not she didn't want to insult them by dressing in jeans and sweatshirt. Though she would have to work out at some point during her stay. She loved kickboxing and running. It would be a shame if she didn't have an outlet like that while staying here.

"Come in!" Hermione called when somebody knocked on her door. She quickly finished off her braid and walked into the entrance room. Instead of Gianna with her breakfast she found a girl with blonde hair and bright red eyes holding at tray of food.

"Master Caius asked me to bring you your breakfast and present myself for an interview with you, Miss Granger. He asked me to inform you that he didn't forget his promise of showing you around but that something came up that needed his attention immediately." The vampire girl said as her nose wrinkled in disgust.

Hermione took a good look at her while accepting the food. The girl looked like she was changed at the age of no older than 15. Her blond hair was long and her face was like that on an angel. However, her magic told her that this girl came closer to the devil that anything else. After her observation Hermione decided that this was the vampire Sanguini talked about most. The feared Jane.

"Good morning." Hermione said with a smile and a nod. "Please call me Hermione."

Hermione took the tray of food and found it filled with scones, jams and tea. Typical English, she thought with a chuckle. She was happy to find a fruit salad next to the scones. At least Gianna thought about her health.

"I am Jane." The vampire said. Hermione held out her hand and after a moment of hesitation Jane accepted it.

"I thought you might be. My informant back home talked about you with great fear." Hermione told her.

"Yet, you don't fear me." Jane said with a curious look.

"Why do you think that?" Hermione asked and sat down. "Please sit with me."

Jane nodded and sat down.

"Well, normally, humans, when they see us even without knowing what we are fear us. You can hear it in their heart rate and also smell it. Yet, you know what we are and who I am without even a hitch of breath. Your heart beat stays steady and your breath is still slow."

Hermione smiled at her and used her wand to summon her notebook and pen. She tapped her pen twice to record this conversation.

"It is easily explained, Jane. I believe you know about witches and wizards?" Hermione asked and Jane nodded. "Than you also know that I can turn you in to ash with a flick of my wand." Jane nodded again.

"But that doesn't explain the zero fear you have. Even for a powerful witch you should feel some fear." Jane said.

"Yes, I think many normal witches and wizards do but I'm a bit different. I have fought in a war in my teenage years. Having this experience makes me less reactive to fear. My magic is telling me that you are very dangerous but my body heeds my rational reactions more."

"So rationally you don't fear me?" Jane asked.

"No, I do not." Hermione said. "But do not ask me why, I have absolutely no idea."

Jane shook her head and muttered something about weird humans.

"I take it Caius send you to me for a reason. From what I have heard about the Volturi I think that you are one of the most interesting vampires here. You have this young and innocent look about you and yet your reputation leaves me to believe differently. For my research, vampires like you are prefect material to build proper legislations on." Hermione mused. "Could you start with telling me about how you were changed and your human age when you were changed?"

Jane looked at her for a minute before starting to talk.

"I was changed together with Alec, my twin brother. We were both thirteen when we were changed. Master Aro, would have changed us later in life as he saw potential in us but back then, in our village we were seen as the witch twins. I'm sure you know all about the witch hunts."

Hermione nodded.

"Alec and I had always been different. Alec could make people sleepy by just talking to them. Hypnotising, they call it these days. I could make people feel pain if I wanted too. We met a wizard a about twenty years after our change, he said that it was likely that I was a witch and had been more in-touch with my dark magic." Jane explained. "Anyway, master Aro was almost too late. He murdered the whole town when he found us on the stakes, the wood already burning. Master Caius changed me and Master Marcus changed Alec. Until today I still can smell the burning of the wood and feel the flames licking at my legs."

"I'm sorry you had to go through that, Jane." Hermione said honestly. The horrific story of the young girl was why it was so important to keep the magical world separated from the muggle one but also to find a good solution for muggleborns that lived in abusive homes. This was why the new team at the ministry was working so hard these days. "Where were you living at that time?"

"Alec and I were born in what is now called Belgium. It was a small village."

Hermione nodded and summoned her bag. Once it landed in her lap she pulled out a book. After a minute of paging through it she found what she was looking for.

"My best friend is working together with the international confederation to create ways to ensure that magical children born to non-magical parents will grow up safely and without abuse. Together with a team for good people we are also working on ways to secure a safer world hidden from the muggle one. The witch-hunts seem a long time ago but it could happen again. Muggles fear what they can't explain. I know it is too late for you but at least your story will help to push people into the right direction."

"That is great." Jane said with a small smile. "While I'm not the kindest vampire I do not wish other children to go through something like that. It left marks on both Alec and I, even into our vampire life."

Hermione nodded kindly and wrote down a few additional notes.

"So, you said Aro saw potential in you and Alec. Does this mean that you and Alec have certain gifts?"

Hermione shuddered a little when Jane smirked. It was similar to when Sirius had that little bout of Black madness.

"Yes, Alec can paralyze a vampire. He can create this mist that takes away all senses. The masters use his gifts to either calm an out of control vampire or to execute painlessly." Jane explained. "I can do the opposite. I can create the illusion of pain with just a look."

This had Hermione sit up straight.

"Can you explain this more into detail?"

"Well, from what master Aro tells me, what I do causes him to feel like his nerve-ends are either electrified or set on fire. I do not physically harm him, it leaves no damage but it's more like I make his mind feel as if I did." Jane explained.

"Interesting." Hermione mused. "I know you probably swore to Caius not to harm me but would you try your gift on me."

"No, master Caius would kill me." Jane said immediately. "Our orders are not to harm you."

Hermione was taken aback by her panicked reaction and immediately nodded.

"Okay, it's okay. I will discus this with Caius. However I want to know if what you can do is similar to a curse. There is this curse, called the cruciatus curse. It causes the similar effect as your gift. While this curse has been forbidden because of misuse by dark witches and wizards, its origin can be found in healing. Like a muggle CPR machine, it was used to shock a human to restart the heart or to help with healing nerve damage."

"And you think I can do that?"

"Yes, if your gift is similar but I will only know if you tried it on me or my best friend. We can both handle the pain and know what the curse feels like." Hermione nodded and smiled as she saw Jane actually looked happy about this. "But I will discus this with Aro and Caius later on."

Hermione quickly finished her breakfast and poured herself some tea. She thought about what else to ask Jane.

"How did you feel towards humans after your change?" Hermione asked. "I was told vampires are primal creatures, mostly steered by instinct and later on capable of rational thought but still very much in-tune with their instinct. After what you gone through I could understand there are certain negative feelings."

"There are." Jane nodded. "In generally humans are seen as cattle by the vampires. There are only a few that have any compassion for them. When I woke up I with too much driven by thirst to think or feel of anything else than my next feed. When my rationality returned I did hate humans beyond anything and because of how the vampires here feel about humans reconciliation with them wasn't promoted. For many years I had felt a need for revenge and pure hatred."

"Did that change?" Hermione asked. She felt a little unnerved by the idea that vampires like Aro and Caius only saw humans as food. Bigotry and disdain wasn't isolated to witches and wizards it seemed.

"Not much. After all these years, the need for revenge is gone but I still dislike humans very much."

"And does this include magicals?" Hermione asked. She had too. For her research and legislations it was important to know the opinions of both sides. Even if those opinions would be hurtful to her.

"For the majority, yes. They still have a beating heart and their blood smells even better than that of normal humans. Besides that we rarely have an encounter with a witch or wizard that is any positive but like with everything there are a few exceptions. You, for example I find very pleasant."

"Thanks." Hermione said with a smile. She glanced down on her notebook and looked for something else to ask. "Can you tell me about feeding? You talked about how it controlled your mind after your change. I'm interested in how often you need to feed, how much of your constant attention is involved with it and if the quality of blood affect you in any way."

Jane thought about it for a minute as Hermione's pen scratched down the question.

"Well, the need to feed regularly differs per vampire. Age is most influential. The older the vampire gets the less often it needs to feed. I'm well over a thousand years old so I only need to feed once every two weeks or so. Master Aro can go without blood for a month. Here at Voltera we feed every two weeks but some of us hunt more often."

Hermione nodded and made a few additional notes.

"The need to feed is constant. The burning pain in our throats is always there. When we get older we can ignore it better. The constant ache just doesn't control our mind and slowly we can ignore it for longer." Jane explained. "There are situations in which even the most practiced ones can slip. Especially when we come across a human who's scent is more appealing then any other, we called them our singers as their blood sings to us."

"So, slip-ups and mistakes do happen?" Hermione asked.

"Not often, it all depends on the vampire and how he or she has been living previously. Here, the masters do not condone failure, so it won't happen within our halls but outside the city sometimes it happens."

"Is it something that can be trained?"

"To a certain level." Jane said with a nod. "I know of one vampire who has never in his vampire existence drank human blood and he is working as a doctor in America."

"As a doctor?" Hermione asked in shock.

"Yes, he is a friend of Aro. He works to heal humans as a penance for his soul." Jane said with a tone that made Hermione believe that the vampire thought it was ridiculous.

"Interesting." Hermione mused. "I will have to ask Aro about that vampire. So what about the quality of blood? Is there a difference in certain bloods or even blood of animals?"

"The quality of blood isn't something we have tested, actually. The vampire that works as a doctor lives on animal blood. It seemed to be perfectly fine for him but it is really disgusting. I tried it once but I won't do it again and I know that master Aro worries about the long term effect on the vampire." Jane said. "We have also hunted drunks and junkies, you taste the difference but it doesn't affect us."

Hermione nodded and thought about what else to ask.

"If you were to drink donated blood, would that negatively affect you?"

"Hmmm… I never tried it." Jane mused. "Perhaps the chemicals in it might alter the taste. The problem is to feel satiated you need the real taste. Otherwise you will always stay thirsty in some way. While for us older vampires it isn't really an issue, for the younger ones it might become a problem after a while."

"Perhaps it is something to test out with a few willing vampires. Being able to live of donated blood will be a huge step towards acceptance in the magical world." Hermione mused. "I have one final question for now. It is already clear to me that you aren't a mindless murder machine but I do not understand how your mind works. When I came here I believed it to be mostly a primal instinct but now I'm not too sure. You explained about how after a while your rational thoughts take back control over the bloodlust but what than? What dictates your behaviour?"

"That's a difficult question to answer." Jane said. "I think it is different per vampire, just like it is with humans. Once a vampire is back in control of its own mind things are different from how the human mind was. Of course if we would allow ourselves, we would be ruled by bloodlust. It's our prime survival instinct. However not many want to be a mindless murder machine and because of the law you can't just go around killing humans. The Volturi would end your existence in a second." Jane said. "So than it becomes almost always a loyalty thing. Many are loyal to their makers or coven leaders. I am loyal to the Volturi kings, they are my masters. I choose to be loyal to them but if I wanted to travel for a while they would allow me to do so."

"Than there is also the loyalty to one's mate. Vampires have one true mate. The bond is instantly and unbreakable. If the bond is broken than the vampire will suffer great pain. If the bond is broken by the death of one it is kinder to end the other as well. The need for revenge and the pain it causes can make a vampire do crazy things."

"Is the mating bond only between vampires or is it possible for a vampire to feel the bond in a human?" Hermione asked.

"The bond forms between vampires but it can happen that a vampire meets his mate when he or she is still human. For the human to feel it is really rare." Somebody else answered.

Hermione looked up to see Caius standing in the doorway. He was dressed in black slacks and a blood red satin shirt. His blonde hair wasn't as styled as it had been the day before but the wilder look looked really good on him.

"Good morning, Hermione." He said. "I see you and Jane are getting along."

"Good morning, Caius." Hermione said with a smile. "Thank you for asking Jane to keep me company. She had been good company and very informative."

"I would have done it myself but something came up." Caius said. "Thank you Jane for giving Hermione her interview. Have you two finished?"

"We were almost finished." Hermione said. "I would like to continue this at a later point. I think Jane is very interesting, especially as a young girl but old vampire. I would very much like to delve further into that and her gift as well."

"Of course." Jane said with a nod. "I'm willing to do so. It has been very nice to talk to somebody who is not afraid of me."

Hermione smiled at her. Jane got up and with a bow to Caius she left the room.

"I came to see if you wanted a tour around the castle?" Caius asked.

"I'd love to have a look around." Hermione said. "I have been in this room for too long already. Though it is a lovely room. The view of the garden is amazing."

"That is Sulpicia's garden. She is Aro's mate." Caius said. "I will introduce you to her later today."

"Is Aro the only one who is mated?" Hermione asked as some how her stomach turned into a knot. It was an uncomfortable feeling she didn't really understand.

"From us three, yes. Marcus had a mate but she was murdered by werewolves. You might understand that while you have fought for werewolf rights, any positive opinions on them are not well met here." It wasn't hard to miss the anger in Caius's face and voice.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Hermione whispered. She felt her stomach unwind in a form of relieve but her heart clench at the idea of Marcus loosing his wife to a species she actually come to appreciate. "I knew there are issues between vampires and werewolves but I do not understand the extend and reason of it. Perhaps one day you can explain it to me."

Caius's face turned soft again and he nodded.

"I will. For now, let us walk. We take the long route to my brothers. They want to meet with you again."

Hermione nodded and picked up her notebook and pen. She summoned her bag and got up. She followed Caius out of the room.


	5. Getting to know

**AN: I'm sorry but I have been away on a holiday and then a trip for my work. My state of mind isn't really in writing at the moment but I had another chapter still almost done. Enjoy!**

* * *

As Caius made his way to Hermione's room he felt a little unnerved. Last night after he had left Hermione at her rooms and had Gianna bring her some food he had met with Marcus. Marcus had asked for his presence, something that didn't happen all that often. Normally Marcus wanted to be left alone if it wasn't important.

The conversation with Marcus had left him shaken.

" _How is miss Granger?" Marcus asked as Caius sat down next to him._

" _She is sleeping. According to Gianna she settled in perfectly."_

" _Good." Marcus sighed. "She is something special. Even for a witch."_

" _Yes, I noticed that."_

" _What else did you notice?" Marcus asked._

" _She surprised me in a positive way. That doesn't happen at all with humans, even less with magicals but I even liked her presence. She is a human but that didn't seem to bother me. I actually found myself liking her. Which is strange, actually." Caius mused._

" _It is not that strange." Marcus mused. "I think I should be honest with you. I debated not to tell you but it would be unfair and you would end up really angry with me."_

" _Tell me what?" Caius asked._

" _Miss Granger seems to be your mate. The moment you shook her hand the bond started to form. It is not as strong as a vampire-mating bond but it is much stronger then any human-vampire bond I have ever seen. I think that is because of who and what she is." Marcus explained. Caius had only been able to gape at him for a while._

" _My mate?" He asked after a while._

" _Yes, the bond is clearly there." Marcus said. "I see that there are a few bonds she holds dearly but yours if already as strong as those to her parents."_

" _A witch as a mate?" Caius asked confused. Marcus just nodded and smiled at him._

" _It seems quite fitting that one of the most deathliest vampires in the world is mated to one of the most powerful witches in the world. Though I'd advise you not to push yourself onto her and demand a change. I don't think she will answer kindly."_

For once Caius had agreed with Marcus. This situation needed a different approach than his normal way of handling things. He had seen a long time ago what witches were capable off and he didn't want to end up in ash just because he was too bold or stupid but doing nothing was not an option. He had wanted a mate for so long. It was one of the few things that had eluded him for his entire existence and it had made him bitter in some way.

Through out the night he had paced around his rooms while listening to the soft breathing of his guest. Her heartbeat echoed around the castle. He was sure every vampire present could hear it. While he paced he thought about how to proceed. For the first time in his existence he was afraid of something, afraid of making a mistake and loosing his mate.

Yet, he knew that Hermione was not yet his.

Two hours before dawn Alec had called him away to deal with a rogue vampire that had been going through Rome. Knowing what needed to be done he knew that it would take a while to deal with so he had asked Jane to ensure that Hermione would get something to eat when she woke up and keep the witch company until he returned.

He was glad for the time away from the castle. The few hours he spend outside cleared his mind and being in one of the most romantic cities in the world brought some ideas forwards on how to proceed with Hermione.

As he walked through the city looking for the vampire he saw a few human couples still up enjoying the ancient buildings, food and ice cream. It all looked very romantic and exactly what he knew women liked. Perhaps when he got back to the castle he could be romantic as well. He had promised Hermione to show her around the castle and tell her about the art. A walk and sightseeing seemed to fit in perfectly. At least that way he would get to know her better and maybe find out how to convince her to accept the mating bond.

After Caius returned to the castle he quickly changed his clothes before walking towards Hermione's room. As he walked he listened to Hermione and Jane talking about aspects of the vampire life. He was somewhat surprised to hear Jane talk so freely and kindly to Hermione. Jane rarely cared for decency what it came to humans. And he had never encouraged her to do anything else.

What unnerved him most was the talk about the mating bond. It had been something he wanted to explain to Hermione himself but it appeared that the woman wasn't going to wait around with figuring out everything about a vampire. She seemed to have little patience when it came to her studies.

Still, out of the fear that Jane would reveal something that he wasn't ready for to be revealed he quickly broke up the conversation. He was sure that Jane would have heard the conversation he had with Marcus, as her cambers were just a floor above Marcus's rooms. It wouldn't do for Jane to say things about that conversation to Hermione.

He asked Hermione if she still wanted to see more of the castle. To his pleasure she quickly agreed.

"Aro and Marcus are in the main art hall. They think you would like it there and it is a more informal setting from the study." Caius said as he pointed in the right direction.

"What art do you have in the castle?" Hermione asked.

"All sorts of art, though we are more fan of the classic art than the modern." Caius asked.

"Me too. I love the Dutch and Belgium painters." Hermione said.

Caius nodded and smiled at her. She didn't seem to be afraid of him and now he thought about it, she hadn't been afraid of Jane either. He wondered why she didn't have that immediate reaction.

"You don't seem to have any issues with being around vampires." He commented.

"Surprisingly not." Hermione agreed. "I'm not sure why but somehow I feel safe here."

"That is good. We would not want our guest to feel scared all the time."

"That would have been annoying yes but it is something I need to study more. I need to give a honest opinion about vampires and if I'm the only witch feeling safe around you than that might cause some problems."

Caius nodded and thought about her words. He started to see how this mating-bond might complicate things. If Hermione were to accept the bond then her credibility would be lost. The people of her world would say that she was biased and refuse to accept her hard work.

Perhaps this needed more care then he originally thought.

Caius took a while to show her around the halls. He took care to always point out how she could find her way back to her rooms and to the safe areas in the castle. When they reached the entrance of Sulpicia's gardens he stopped walking. It was around noon and the sun was high up in the sky. While he had never thought about it, now he wondered how this witch would react to him in the sunlight.

"Caius?" Hermione asked hesitant as she waited for him to continue. He looked at her and found only curiosity in her eyes. It made him wonder if anything could deter this woman if she had put her mind to it. Especially when she tried to satisfy her curiosity.

"Did your informant tell you anything about vampires and sunlight?" He asked carefully.

He watches as Hermione bit her lip and looked out into the garden. She seemed to be trying to find the information.

"Muggles have this myth of vampires turning to dust in sunlight. In our schoolbooks it was mentioned that vampires are allergic to sunlight and thus prefer to stay inside. Sangiuni said the sunlight didn't bother him but he rarely ventured out during the day." Hermione told him. "I take it that neither are true or else you wouldn't have settled a whole army of vampires in sunny Italy."

Caius laughed at that. She was pretty smart but very uninformed.

"No, those are just myths, just like the garlic, the stake and the holy water." He said with a chuckle. "The garlic just stinks, the stake wouldn't even penetrate my skin and the holy water just makes me wet. The sun however does cause us some issues. I'll show you."

Hermione nodded and dictated her pen to write all this down. Caius watched her closely as they walked out into the garden. At first Hermione seemed to be preoccupied by the beauty of the flowers and the light of the sun. He carefully rolled up his sleeves and held out his arms. When Hermione finally looked up at him, Caius smiled carefully at her.

"Wow." She sighed. He was a little surprised to see that even this didn't scare her. It made them stand out as different much more than any other feature. If this didn't get a reaction than what would?

Actually there was some sort of reaction, just not the expected one. There was a short hitch of breath and a jump in her heart rate but if anything she stepped closer to inspect. After two steps she was so close that he could feel the heat from her body. Her scent clouded his mind. She smelled of cinnamon, parchment and first rain after a hot summer.

"Sanguini said it was weird but I never expected that." Hermione whispered. "It's like snow in sunlight. Your skin reflects the light and throwing it in prisms. Tiny rainbows but subtle. It is absolutely beautiful."

"But a little bit too revealing to walk out like this amongst humans." Caius pointed out.

"Yes, I can see that. You would cause quite the riot." Hermione said with a chuckle. "Do you have any idea on what happens during the change that makes your skin like this?"

"Aro might have some theories." Caius stated. "I'm not the research type."

Hermione laughed loudly.

"And now you are stuck with me, the biggest bookworm in magical history."

"Surprisingly I do not mind." Caius said. "Come let us walk on."

Hermione nodded and followed him through the garden.

"How come you say you are a bookworm?" Caius asked.

"I love books, I love reading and learning new things." Hermione said with a smile. "When I was younger it would cause my peers to bully me but it never deterred me to be the best. At Hogwarts I had hoped to find like-minded people but once again they were afraid of my knowledge and I did often sound like I had swallowed my textbooks. It was later on that I learned it was a good thing to be a bookworm but not to show off your knowledge."

"Showing off is never very elegant but fun to do every now and then." Caius commented.

"I wish my younger self knew. I could have saved myself a lot of pain and headaches." Hermione said with a smile. "These days I have really good friends who accept me for what I am. My best friend jokes about me getting lost in his library often. At least he makes sure I remember to eat and drink."

"Sounds like a good friend."

"Harry is the best." Hermione said with a smile and Caius felt slightly jealous of her best friend. "Though, he worries way too much."

"About you?" Caius asked. He wondered if he should give this best friend some credit.

"Oh, yes." Hermione said. "I had to agree to call him the day I arrived here and then every other day. If I don't he will come here and burn the place down."

"And he could do that?" Caius said disbelieving.

"Yes, he could and would if he thinks somebody here has hurt me. These days he is more like 'curse first, ask questions later' type of wizard." Hermione said with such a convincing look that Caius decided to believe her. He would ask about this best friend of her later to gather more information.

"Tell me a little bit about your every day life?" Hermione asked.

"What would you like to know?"

"How do you spend your days?"

"I'm sad to disappoint you. Our lives are rarely exciting. Even as kings we get bored often." Caius said with a grin. "We have our assets to manage, the guard to train, the occasional visitor to deal with and sometime there is something outside of Italy that need a little more attention. After living for as long as we have there isn't much that excites us anymore."

"So your twenty-four hours a day spending it utterly bored?" Hermione asked.

"Most of the time." Caius said.

"That sounds so depressing. It's no wonder Aro gets excited by everything that is a little different." Hermione said with much compassion. "But what do you do normally?"

"I'm charged with the training of the guard and the management of our Europeans assets. We have training with the highest ranking twice a week and the lower ranks three times a week. On Sunday we have sparring competitions."

"I would love to see those, if that is possible."

"Of course." Caius said. "I spend about two hours a day on paperwork and another hour on the financial aspects of the Volturi in general. Besides that my hours are filled by what ever crosses my path."

"You vampires have way too much time." Hermione said and shook her head. "Do you have just two ranks with the guard or more and how are they distinguished?"

"No we have more ranks. The mates and us kings are the highest of ranks. When presenting ourselves to vampires we all wear black cloaks with a golden with blood red coat of arms pendant. Our most skilled and trusted wear dark grey cloaks with red lining and the same pendant. Those below that have a lighter cloak and a silver pendant. There are two ranks below that, those people have only a silver pendant and do not live in Voltera. We use them as informants and when we need somebody to handle a situation quickly. Lastly we have those who have sworn an oath to us to be faithful to the Volturi when the situation requires it."

Hermione nodded and thought about it. Caius couldn't help but find the look on her face completely adorable.

"Jane and Felix talked about the punishment to those who break the law. It was mentioned that you sometimes order them to serve in your ranks and sometimes you give the death penalty. How you do differentiate to what deserves what punishment?"

"It normally depends on the situation and the way the law is broken." Caius said after a minute. He wondered how to explain to this woman who appeared to be so pure and good that he was normally the one calling for the death penalty. "For example, have you heard about immortal children?"

"No." Hermione said.

"Well, immortal children are vampires changed before they could develop rational thoughts or even just know that every action has its consequences." Caius explained and turned Hermione towards a painting of an immortal child and it's sire. "There was a period that changing children really young was very popular. As you see they are very beautiful and many vampires fell in love with them. The problem is that these vampires children have no control, when ever they are hungry or in a temper tantrum they could destroy a whole city."

"That's horrific." Hermione shuddered.

"Yes, and it exposes our existence. Therefore we decided that changing a child too young, is punishable by death, including those who choose to defend the child or are involved in the process." Caius said. He looked down at the little witch and saw her nodded. He had expected her to be a little bit shocked by the brutality of their punishment but she didn't show any kind of those feelings. "Of course, in that period we had to destroy many lives. Vampires would often get so attached to the child that they would defend them no matter what. Only once did we let the family live as they had no idea that their sire was hiding an immortal child."

"So exposing the vampire world in such a brutal and irrevocable way ensures the death penalty." Hermione summed it up. "What about minor cases, like a newborn on the loose or a mistake by an older vampire?"

"Older vampires know how to clean up after them. It is very rare that we have to deal with those cases. Most of the time it's due to admitting the secret to a human. The human will get the choice to be changed or killed, the vampire will be punished. If they are gifted Aro would want them on the guard if not…"

"Isn't that quite harsh?" Hermione asked. He saw no judgement in her eyes, just curiosity. "I mean, forcing a human to give up their humanity or life for the mistake or crime made by another?"

"From a human point of view it might be." Caius said. "However, we need to be able to be certain that the human won't go talking about our existence. I'm sure you can understand that the knowledge of the mythical world is a huge burden on normal humans."

"I can." Hermione said. "Perhaps it would do to make a suggestion that you get a team of magical who can erase memories to deal with these situations. It will make you look much less brutal in the eyes of the public."

Caius nodded but didn't comment on it. He was surprised by her professionalism and her ability to come up with solutions rather quickly. He found himself more surprised by the fact that she only seemed to think about how to make vampires look better but not influencing their way of life in anyway.

By the time they reached the art hall Hermione's stomach grumbled.

"You need to eat?" Caius asked.

"It's just after my normal lunch time but your brothers are waiting for us." Hermione said hesitantly.

Caius smiled at her and nodded.

"Why don't you go meeting with my brothers and I'll go to Gianna to get you some food. After meeting with Aro and Marcus, when it's dark I will take you into town for some local food."

"I'd love that." Hermione said with a smile.

He opened the door for her to let her into the art hall where Marcus and Aro were discussing their experiences with Hermione so far. Caius left the witch in the trustworthy hands of his brothers and went to look for something to eat for his witch.


	6. Breathless

**AN: I am really sorry it is taking me a while to upload. It's not that I have a writers-block but with work, emotional craziness and the festival season started I just don't have a lot of time to write. I'm currently writing so many different stories because I cannot focus on one story alone currently. My head and heart are in chaos... so I write what I can when I can.**

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When Caius returned with a tray of food for Hermione, he found her talking excitedly to Marcus and Aro about something. She saw showing them something on a table.

"You see, this is brilliant magic and good for protection."

"Yes, yes, it is rather surprising that you noticed the runes. I knew that some old wizard placed them there well before we settled here but I never knew what they meant."

Caius watched the young witch as she flipped through the pages of a book and pointed out certain things. She seemed to be in her element to have such an attentive audience. She smiled widely and her eyes sparkled with joy. He found himself smiling as well. He seemed to do that quite often when the witch was around.

After a few minutes of watching her Caius heard her stomach grumble again and walked in.

"I have some food for you." He said as he placed the tray of food on a side table.

"Oh, thank you." Hermione said with a smile and quickly grabbed the plate with what Gianna said with a grilled chicken sandwich.

"What were you discussing?" Caius asked.

"The runes on the door of Aro's office." Hermione said. "When I arrived I recognized the markings of the door but not their meaning. It turned out Aro's has, of course, an old book on runes. We were working out their power."

"And?"

"It appears to be a combination that wards the door against darkness."

This had Caius utterly confused. As those from the magical world had told them regularly, vampires were essentially dark creatures, so why would they be able to pass that door? When he asked she gave him a bright smile.

"It appears that you are not as dark as you think you are, I'm sorry to burst your bubble." Hermione said and Aro laughed loudly. Caius just shook his head and wondered how this witch could just get away with saying things like that. Any other would have triggered quite the temper tantrum from him. Not many would have survived the intonation she had used, let alone the words.

Caius watched as Hermione flipped through the pages of the book a few times before setting it aside.

"You can take your time to read the book properly, Hermione." Aro said kindly. "I see that you have a desire to study that rivals mine, so I won't deny you this opportunity."

"Thank you, Aro." Hermione said with a smile and closed the book. She sat back and picked up her notebook. She scanned the pages before asking her questions.

While she asked and Aro answered most of them Caius watched her. He memorized every feature and habit of this young witch. He took in every detail about her. He noticed that her curly hair had many shades of brown. Her doe like eyes were not one colour either. His eyes ran over her soft skin and nearly growled when he noticed the faint lines of a scar. It ran from her eye to the corner of her mount. Looking further he also noticed a scar on her collarbone and on her wrist. It took him a second to gain control of his anger as he was ready to destroy anyone who had hurt his mate. Not wanting to go into a full rage he focussed on other aspects of the witch.

It seemed to him that she was constantly aware of the fact that she was sitting with vampires. Her eyes would move rapidly around at least once a minute to scan her surroundings. Her posture while looking quite relaxed always held a certain readiness to it. Her back was always against something solid and she would never turn her back to anyone of them.

Even in the use of her wording it was noticeable that she was aware of how dangerous they are but that she never showed any fear or hesitance around them, everything she did seemed fully natural. What he found most amazing was that whatever she said was carefully formulated so that she wouldn't accidentally insult her hosts. She was one of the few magicals who truly treated them as equals.

"I was amazed by the effect of the sunlight on your skin. I wonder what happens during the change that makes your skin change like that?" Hermione asked after a while. They had been talking about the different steps in the change for a while now. Caius thought by now that she would have a detailed image of what happens during a change by now but her quick mind always came up with new questions. More questions than he had ever considered asking.

"I only have theories on that, no proof." Aro said. "After I watched Caius's change minute by minute I asked the same question. He was laying in a room with large windows and about two thirds through the change the sun would shine in. His skin had the same reaction to the sun as a full vampire but only softer. I wrote down every detail of it but it was only after the development of chemical science that I could formulate an idea."

Hermione nodded and quickly made a few additional notes.

"My idea is that our venom causes our whole body to harden. It seems that everything is crystalizing during the change. I do not know exactly how it works with bones and tissue but for the skin it seems that the cells transform into something similar to diamonds. Perhaps the venom changed the carbon structure in our cells. However many experiments have shown me that our skin doesn't become solid. It would have been difficult to move if that was the case, so it won't become a solid field of hard material, rather that it is on cellular level."

Caius watched as Hermione nodded and pulled her small beaded bag out of her pocket. She looked into the bag and to his surprise she pulled out an instrument close to a microscope. Something way bigger than should have been able to fit into the small bag.

"That's a very interesting bag." Aro said.

"I have charmed it to be bigger in the inside and feather light. I can fit about a whole house-hold for two people in it." Hermione explained. "The magical world has suitcases and trunks that can hold a whole apartment inside."

"Interesting." Aro said excitedly and Caius couldn't help but agree. The more Hermione spoke about the magical world the more he wanted to see her home for himself.

"This is a magical tool that works similar to a microscope. It takes pictures of anything I want only enlarged many times. I would like to use it on the skin of a vampire in sunlight and under artificial light to examine the difference." Hermione said.

"Not that I would deny this but I would like to know, what would this add to your investigation?" Marcus asked.

"Well, besides feeding my own curiosity." Hermione mused, "If we could provide vampires with a potion that could dampen the effect of the sun on their skin we could make integration of vampires into the magical and muggle world a lot easier. At least those who are willing to participate."

"To be able to walk out on a sunny day and not worry about the reactions of humans would be a pleasure that many vampires miss." Marcus stated softly.

"I could imagine that." Hermione said.

A silence hung and Hermione scanned her notes.

"Why don't we do those tests tomorrow when the sun is up high. It's near nightfall now." Caius stated. "I'm sure you would want to see something of the city while you stay here. Why don't I escort you through town and ensure you get something to eat."

"That sounds lovely." Hermione said. "Though I would like to change into something a little more appropriate for a walk."

"Of course." Caius said and held out his arm to take her to her rooms.

Hermione was a little perplexed by the Volturi Kings. They weren't at all what she had been expecting. She wasn't sure what she had been expecting but it wasn't these friendly and open vampires.

Marcus was much more talkative than she had expected. Aro was so friendly and open that she started to wonder if he had any ulterior motives and Caius was much more friendly and charming than the brutal and cruel murderer people had warned her about. All the stories she had heard about them didn't match up with what she was personally experiencing. Especially when it came to Caius, this wasn't the monster with a very short temper that she had expected to meet. It made her doubt herself a little. Was she seeing things wrongly or was she misjudging the situation?

She wasn't sure about the whole situation. Perhaps it was best to ask for aid in this investigation but the idea of sharing the three kings with any other magical seemed so very wrong. In fact it raised her shackles when just thinking about it. She wasn't sure where these feelings came from but going on her instincts she decided to wait and see. She would stay on her guard and review carefully everything she had seen so far. Perhaps she would ask Harry to send the Pensive to her.

After she changed into a long summer dress, black jacket and a pair of flats she stepped out of her room and made her way towards the garden where Caius had promised to wait for her. She had been pleasantly surprised that he was willing to take her out for dinner. How the vampire would deal with keeping up the charade during a human dinner was beyond her. As far as she understood they couldn't eat any human food. She was very curious about how he would handle going out for dinner.

She turned around the corner to enter the garden and stopped in her tracks. Caius was leaning against the far wall while he waited for her. Her breath hitched and her heart skipped a beat or two as she looked at the vampire. The last of the sunlight coming from behind him created a fire red hallow around his head. The black slacks and red satin shirt clung to his body, showing off a muscular physique. His deep red eyes glowed with a power that she had never seen in a non-magical before. All in all he looked stunning. So powerful, so beautiful, more appealing than a vampire should be allowed to look. Yet, she didn't feel any of the vampire lure. Her mind stayed clear, there was only the awe and desire that his beauty stirred with in her.

When his eyes met hers she shivered slightly. Not out of fear but because of a feeling that she couldn't really place. If she would describe it, it would come close to the times she saw Sirius when she had a crush on him but it was much more intense. It was desire, need and butterflies all in one. However, with this vampire there was something more. Something like a need to be close to him, the need to feel his strong arms wrap around her, the need of him taking her and making her his. Such a strong feeling.

"Ready to go?" Caius asked and walked towards her.

His voice and movement startled Hermione out her spiralling needs and desires. She shook herself a little and nodded.

"Yes. I'm pretty hungry." She said and noticed her voice was full of her feelings. It was soft, rougher than normal and a little higher. Her throat was constricted with the overwhelming feeling that had just taken hold of her. Trying to shake it off fully she failed to notice Caius's eyes slightly darkening as she spoke. He simply held out his arm for her and took her to the back entrance of the castle.

"This entrance we use for ourselves. The main entrance is used for guests and sorts but this one gives us quick access to the town's square and the shopping street." Caius explained softly as they left the castle. "The door is normally heavily guarded by more than just vampires."

"Such as?"

"We use high voltage on our outer doors with the exception of the main entrance." Caius said with a smile. "I disarmed this one, so we can pass through safely." He held the door open for her and closed it softly behind them. It was a testament to their strength that the heavy old door didn't seem to cause him any difficulties.

Hermione nodded and looked around her while she walked into the streets. The old streets of Voltera were beautiful. It was classic architecture of an age long past. The buildings were very old and the street looked medieval. Italian music could be heard from the small café's. The restaurants were buzzy and full of life.

"How old is this part of Voltera?" Hermione asked.

"Around eighteen hundred years." Caius said. "The castle was build a few hundredth years before that but Voltera didn't became a town immediately. It has been through some troubling times. The town only really grew after we settled here. This is the oldest part of the living area of the town. We have worked hard to keep it like this. While we do not often interact with the humans here, we do support the town as a whole and invest in renovations to keep it look as it did when we settled here. It's mostly a sentimental thing."

"I can imagine. So it has become a settlement at the second part of the roman empire?"

"Yes, it was. The castle was build at the beginning of the empire."

Hermione smiled and looked around with even more interest. They walked for about fifteen minutes talking about the history of the town and the architecture before Caius stopped at the small restaurant.

"According to Gianna, this is the best restaurant for authentic Italian food."

Hermione looked at the terrace and the façade of the restaurant. It was small and homely. The people eating there were locals and the food smelled amazing. It wasn't something a tourist would choose but her parents had always taught her to go eat where the locals do if you wanted the real good food.

"I asked Gianna to make reservations for us." Caius said and led her inside.

Five minutes later Hermione found herself seated in a secluded corner, sipping off a very good red wine. Caius had ordered a bottle for them and drank as well.

"I wonder, Caius, how do you deal with human food and drinks?" Hermione asked after casting some privacy wards. "I was in the understanding that vampires couldn't handle any human food."

"Food, no. We can eat it, it tastes very awful and we have to bring it back up afterwards. My body cannot digest it. Drinks on the other hand are a little different. Somehow the fluids seep into our system like blood does and becomes a part of our venom. It doesn't taste very good but occasionally we do drink alcohol for relaxation and sometimes just to get drunk."

"I can imagine a drunk vampire is a very dangerous vampire." Hermione mused.

"Yes but not as bad as you think it is, it's like with humans, some have a bad drunk other have a great drunk."

"Which are you?" Hermione asked.

"It depends on the mood." Caius said with a shrug. "Normally I go quiet and become even more sarcastic. Some times I get violent but I never loose full control. And you?"

"I loose my filter." Hermione grimaced. "That is why I don't get drunk anymore."

"Bad experiences?" Caius asked and Hermione looked up to see him looking honestly interested. She mused for a second to say anything or just change the subject. Due to the honest interest in his eyes she decided to give in. She reasoned that she was severely invading their privacy with all her questions so doing something in return seemed natural.

"Yes, when you are as well known in your world as I am, not having a filter is a very bad thing. Everything you say or do will become public knowledge. Especially when you end up ranting about your sex life in public and at least 10 reporters are around you."

Hermione shook her head and remembered the break up with Ron. It hadn't been pretty but in the end they had managed to stay good friends. However their whole world knew about their sex-life or the lack thereof. It had been a nightmare for months until Harry stepped in and demanded some libel laws to be approved. Harry didn't often used his fame but in this he made it known in their world that they either learned to accept that you couldn't write lies just because you wanted a sensational story or he would walk out of them.

"Pardon?" Caius asked. Hermione looked up to see him looking angry and shocked all at once.

"Well, you probably know about the golden trio."

"I don't. Not really, I only heard the name before. Aro mentioned it after you contacted us." Caius quickly said.

"It will be a long story for me to explain." Hermione sighed.

"We do have some time. You can sleep in tomorrow." Caius said with a smile. Hermione smiled back at his friendliness.

"It's a Sunday tomorrow. It would be nice to sleep in." Hermione nodded. "Alright, I'll explain."

Hermione explained to Caius how she came to be one third of the famous golden Trio and a celebrity in the magical world. She told a slightly edited story just because there were things she still didn't want to talk about. Even after all these years there was still a lot of hurt.


	7. Hermione's story

**AN: I'm sorry it is taking me a while to update. Between real life, creating a new career as photographer** **and a crashing laptop it has been madness.**

 **Anyway, please let me know what you think! Reviews do get me to work faster.**

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Caius listened to the story of Hermione Granger with many different feelings running through his body. After just ten minutes into her story he was ready to brutally murder this wizard named Voldemort. In fact, he was already plotting the death of the human while listening to her incredible story. Twenty minutes later he found all his plans unnecessary and made new plans to extensively thank Hermione's best friend Harry Potter for keeping his mate safe. The man would be honoured beyond all measures if it were up to Caius.

During her story, he had been angry, murderous, shocked, scared and most of all in awe. It had taken all his control not to growl loudly and draw unwanted attention to them whenever Hermione told him about her near-death experiences and attacks on her. It dawned on him how miraculous it was that his mate was still alive. It was all thanks to her brainpower and Harry's magical prowess.

Just a minute after she finished her story the waiter came with the food. Hermione had asked the waiter in surprisingly good Italian for the specialty of the chef. Caius couldn't stop himself from shaking his head after he had heard her talk Italian. It was in nowhere near good enough to hold a in depth conversation but more than enough for a tourist to manage. She was a woman of many surprises.

"This is the first course, it is ravioli filled with cheese, ham and spinach."

Hermione smiled and thanked the waiter. Caius waited patiently as she ate a few bites before talking to her further. He took the time to sort through his emotions and thoughts. It really hadn't been easy to listen to her tales. As a creature of instinct, he had felt himself being pulled to all sides and he realized that he needed a moment to stabilize his emotions. It wouldn't do him any good to react impulsive and angered… or worse, afraid.

Once Caius knew he could talk without growling or shaking he continued with the questions he still had.

"So, you became famous in your world, could have had any job you wanted but you decided to return to school?" He asked. He was curious to see why a young woman like her had chosen to lock herself away in a boarding school instead of embracing the high life. That wasn't the view he had from young women these days.

"Yes, I wanted to finish my education before taking on a job. In the human muggle world it is very rare that somebody gets a high ranking job before they turn thirty, I had just turned twenty and wasn't ready for a full time job. Nor did I want to use my fame, which I gained through something I hated, to get into a position others worked hard for all their life." Hermione explained patiently and Caius nodded. He was impressed by the maturity she had shown at such a young age. She could have easily decided to throw away everything and party her life away.

"The boys didn't like that I was abandoning them, especially Ron. He just couldn't understand my love for studying and my need to get my graduation." Hermione continued. "We had many arguments about it but we worked through them and after I finished my education Ron asked me to marry him."

This had Caius growl a little. Luckily due to the noise of the other humans Hermione didn't notice. The idea of his mate with another male was infuriating. He wanted to rip the male apart but he quickly reigned in his anger. It wouldn't do him any good if Hermione saw him loose his temper over something like this. After all she had told him it was very clear that she cared about this Ron guy quite a lot.

"You never told us you were married." He said as casually as he could manage.

"I'm not." Hermione stated. Her voice indicated some old hurt. "Ron and I were engaged for a while. His mother was already planning the complete wedding. However after five months I started to realize that our relationship was more of that of siblings than of lovers. We were barely intimate and when it happened Ron was a very selfish and old-fashioned lover. On a night out I got drunk and Ron and I got into an argument. By the end of it I was yelling at him about how unsatisfied he left me. Bloody Rita, happened to be in the same nightclub. She reported the whole story the next day and the whole wizarding world knew about my non-existing love life."

Caius carefully looked at the woman next to him. Hermione seemed to be very comfortable sitting next to him. The way she talked about something so embarrassing without blushing or hesitation made him believe that she was either too trusting or she didn't care about what other thought about her anymore. He guessed it was the later as while she had been friendly and open to them she always seemed a little hesitant with her words. She did seem to think before saying something.

"Must have been difficult to have your life so publically displayed." He commented.

Hermione shrugged casually and looked at him with a smile.

"When you live in the magical world and you are the best friend of Harry Potter you get quickly used to being under a magnifying glass. This was nothing new and nothing I couldn't handle." Hermione explained. "Though, thanks to Harry, it ensured that libel laws were instated and that Rita got a hefty fine for some nasty things she did. It makes a nice nest egg for me."

Caius poured her a new glass of wine while the waiter removed her empty plate. They sat in silence for a few minutes but it wasn't uncomfortable. Caius watched her closely during this time and wondered what she was thinking. It looked to him that she was worrying or wondering about something. She nibbled on her bottom lip and had a little frown.

"You can ask any question, you know." He prodded when he became too impatient. Hermione once again smiled at him and nodded.

"Alright but please don't get angry or upset with me. I'm asking this based on my own experiences and knowledge."

"Very well." He said with a nod.

"Before I travelled to Voltera I studied many aspects of the Volturi. Not that there was much information but I never go into something like this unprepared. As you already found out, my study material was very lacking in correct information. However, all the stories about the Volturi Kings seemed consistent. Aro is always described as a strict, eccentric ruler, Marcus is always described as a depressed, silent and uninterested third wheel, and you are always described as cruel, ruthless and impatient." Hermione said carefully. Caius nodded and smiled a little at her. He knew where she was going with this.

"And this all doesn't match with what you are experiencing now." He finished.

"Indeed." She said with a nodded. "I was prepared for a lot of difficult conversations and politics. I was even prepared to have to be ruthless as well. Yet, I find myself having a very pleasant dinner with you after having already two really nice days with you and your brothers. Even Jane, a vampire who is one of the most feared vampires has been friendly."

"It makes you wonder if you are missing something." He said with a chuckle.

"Well… yes." Hermione said with a nod.

After the main course was served Caius decided to explain to her why her experiences were different than she had expected. Though, he wasn't ready yet to inform the young woman about their mate-bond. He was sure that Hermione wouldn't take it very well at that point in time. He would figure out a way to make her see it herself. It might be the better way to get her to understand, apparently going by her words she did distrust them at some level.

"There is a difference between what we want to show to the vampire world and how we really are." Caius said slowly. "Within the walls of Voltera we are family. We live and care for each other like family. Take Jane for example, she is known as the most cruel and evil female in the vampire world. Yet, within the castle, most see her as a younger sister to dote on and have fun with. She loves to take care of everybody, play board games, paint and read books like Jane Austin novels."

"Vampires are volatile creatures, driven by instinct and thirst. If we were to rule like the bunch of fun loving family members we are in Voltera than our world would quickly descent in chaos. Vampires must be ruled strictly, harsh and without exceptions. That is why when you ask any vampire outside our inner-guard about the Volturi they will shake with fear." Caius continued with quite the smug grin on his face. "However, we are not a bunch of mindless dictators, who rule by cruelty and terror. After we received your letter we decided to show you that we are more than that. After all it is in our best interest to show the magical world that we are trustworthy, smart and capable to do business with. We are representing the vampire world to you and with the exception of a few, most older vampires just want to be left in peace. After some discussion, we decided to show you just that."

He noticed Hermione's eyes harden a little and that she immediately wanted to argue with him on this but he held up his hand in order for her to let him finish.

"However, we never expected to truthfully like you. Our experiences with magicals have been less than pleasant and while your letter was friendly and your name was known by Aro in a good way, we still were prepared to face a stuck-up pure-blood witch who would see us as lesser beings, monsters even. We were prepared, like you, to deal with the politics and the insults but in a kind and professional way. We were all happily surprised to find that they send a witch who is both capable to hold up an interesting conversation with a vampire and one able to not be judgemental. You are so honest, open and smart that it isn't a surprise that Aro and Marcus like you. They really enjoy having a conversation with you, that much was clear this afternoon."

"And you?" she softly asked. Caius noticed that her tone was uncertain and that her cheek flushed a little when she asked. He found himself enthralled by her shyness. This was a side he hadn't seen from her and he liked it. He liked the contrast between the powerful and self-assured witch and the shyness and soft-spoken young woman.

He took her hand without even noticing that he was doing so. He softly smiled at her and leaned in a little. Her beautiful scent washed over him and he couldn't help but shiver a little as it took hold of him even more.

"I'm sitting here with you in a human restaurant, am I not?" Caius said softly. "Even Jane or Aro will tell you that I have never taken a woman out for dinner before. Not even when I was human. I can be and I am one of the most cruel and aggressive vampires, my past and experiences as a vampire has made me like that. I can be a ruthless killer. However, I'm not a player, a man who only takes or even somebody only driven by desires. In all my years I have perhaps once joined a meal with a human."

When Hermione looked up and met his eyes he didn't see the happiness and confidence he had expected. Instead he found even more uncertainty and hesitance. Apparently he needed to be clearer in his statement.

"I truly like your company, Hermione. I would have never offered to take you out to a human restaurant if I didn't really like to spend time with you. Not even the prospect of a lot of business with the Wizarding world could have made me offer this to anyone else."

Slowly he saw her eyes lightened up and a soft smile form around her face.

"Thank you, Caius." She whispered just loud enough for him to hear.

"You are welcome." Caius said and thought about a question he had wanted to ask. "Tell me a little about your life as it is now? Do you have hobbies besides reading? What is your work like? I'm curious about how life in the magical world is."

Hermione smiled at him and nodded.

"My life isn't all that exciting at the moment. I live in muggle London as I couldn't deal with the paparazzi at my apartment door when I rented an apartment in Diagon Alley. I live in a small two-room apartment about ten minutes walk from Harry's home. We often have dinner together as neither of us wants to cook every day." Hermione told him. "The best thing about the apartment is its proximity to the library and museums. I make long days at the ministry as my department is going through a complete overhaul. The fact that I'm also working for the International Confederation means that I have absolutely no time for anything else. I travel a lot but barely see anything outside my office and hotelroom. I haven't been out on a date or even a girls night out since school and I haven't had a day off since I started this job."

Caius couldn't help but breaking out in laughter. The way she described her life was as comical as it was sad. A young girl like her should have a great and wild life, with nights out, fun hobbies and many man begging for her attention.

"So, no nights out, no wild hobbies or dates?" He asked.

"Nope." Hermione sighed. "In fact, my boss ordered me to take my time here in Italy. He stated quite clearly that I was not to return in two weeks with a full report. As long as I wasn't threatened than I am to stay in Italy and take at least two weeks off after I finish my investigation."

"You must have a great boss."

"Kingsley is a really good friend. We fought back to back in the battle for Hogwarts."

"So, you will stay in Italy after you finish your investigation?" Somehow Caius felt really happy about this idea. It would give him a little bit more time to ensure that this woman would agree to become his mate.

"Yeah, I dreamed about traveling to Italy for a long time. I've been here when I was little with my parents and fell in love with the history of this country, the sun and the landscape. Before I found out I was a witch I would always beg my parents to come back here." Hermione said with a smile. "Once I started at Hogwarts my life was too chaotic to even think about traveling for fun."

"You can stay at Voltera as long as you wish." Caius immediately offered.

"That is very nice of you. I will think about it." Hermione said. "You are really well located for exploring the country."

Caius poured them some extra wine and asked if Hermione wanted to eat desert here or if she wanted to go get an ice-cream. After careful consideration Hermione decided to go for the ice-cream. Italy was after all, famous for its ice.

"This Harry, he means a lot to you." Caius stated. He hoped she would talk more about her life.

"Oh yes!" Hermione said with a smile. Caius could see the love in her eyes. He would have been terribly jealous but he wasn't. Somehow, he felt really grateful for this Harry instead as if a threat. "Harry is my brother in all but blood. Sirius even suggested he would adopt us both to make it official. Harry knows me better than he knows himself. I wouldn't know what to do without him. He suggested that I should buy a house here and have a holiday home here. Something I hadn't even considered but I immediately loved the idea."

"Then you first need to learn how to take a holiday." Caius said as a tease.

"That too." Hermione said dryly. He immediately caught the idea that she was very well used to men teasing her.

"So, you are normally only with other men? I haven't heard you talking about any girls you know." He asked.

"Hmmm, most of the times, yes. However, there are Ginny, Luna and Hannah who I often see. Ginny is engaged to Harry, I'm sure that in a year or so there will be a wedding on a deserted island or something similar. Luna is a weird girl but with a very big heart. She sees things differently. Currently she is traveling in Russia to find some magical creature she believes exists. Hannah is a recent addition to the group, she started dating Neville a few months ago."

Caius noticed that the three-mentioned woman were all in some way related to the group of men Hermione seemed to care about a lot. None of the women seemed to be first and foremost Hermione's friend. He found himself sad at these thoughts. A woman who went through so much must have a female friend she could confide in. Maybe that was why she and Jane seemed to get along.

They left the restaurant and walked through the small town to a hidden ice-cream shop. While they walked back to the castle they talked about little things. Mostly Caius answering Hermione's questions about the town and architecture again. It was clear that she had a passion for history.


End file.
